As you know, the Federal government is operating under a Continuing Resolution (CR), as Congress has not passed any of the appropriations bills for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011. The current CR expires on March 4. If Congress does not reach an agreement prior to that time, many functions of the Federal government would be curtailed.

The text of the House fiscal year 2011 Continuing Resolution was released last week and it provides cuts to the cancer research and control programs at the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administration.

President Obama outlined his priorities in his recent State of the Union address including a medical malpractice overhaul and eliminating new IRS tax reporting requirements. He also pledged his support of action to improve the health care overhaul law. However, he does not support full scale repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

The House voted to repeal 245-189 the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) on January 19. The symbolic vote was along party lines with only 3 Democrats [Representatives Dan Boren (D-OK), Mike Ross (D-AR), and Mike McIntyre (D-NC)] voting with the Republicans.

Below is a summary of some of the legislative issues that IMF has followed in the second session of the 111th Congress. As you can see, we were successful on many important issues such as ensuring access to clinical trials and declaring September Blood Cancer Awareness Month.

Voting is important because our elected officials (at all levels) are supposed to work for us. Our legislators make the laws that we have to follow every day and that impact our lives from the moment we get up in the morning until we go to sleep at night.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Improving Access to Clinical Trials Act (HR 2866) on September 23rd. The legislation, which passed the Senate on August 5th, now goes to the White House where President Obama is expected to sign it.

One hundred cosponsors of H Res 1433 cleared the way for The House Energy and Commerce Committee to hold a hearing on this resolution, which encourages greater support for blood cancer research and education.

Representative Reichert Circulates "Dear Colleague" Letter to New NCI Director asking him to consider increasing the Institute's commitment to organ-specific research at the NCI through a targeted research program for the deadliest cancers.

Does Your Representative Support Blood Cancer Awareness Month?
Resolution 1433 recognizes September 2010 as Blood Cancer Awareness Month. We need your help to secure 90 cosponsors before this bill will be considered by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Have Questions About the Temporary High Risk Health Insurance Pool?
The health reform law creates a temporary national high-risk pool that will be created to provide health coverage to people with pre-existing medical conditions who have been uninsured for six months.

On Tuesday, March 23rd, the President signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act which transforms significant portions of the health care environment and contains a number of reforms that will be extremely beneficial for myeloma patients.

Progress in passing health care reform legislation has significantly slowed. Congressional leaders are currently determining how to pass this important legislation as well as what a final package might look like and what the timing might be.

Since the Senate passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590), on December 24th, the House and Senate have been trying to work out the differences between the two bills. On January 13th, President Obama and top Congressional Democrats held a marathon negotiating session in an effort to thrash out agreements on health care reform.

A summary of some of the legislative issues that IMF has followed in the first session of the 111th Congress. As you can see, we were successful on many important issues such as increasing funding for cancer research in both the economic stimulus package as well as in fiscal year (FY) 2010 at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI). However, Congress still has unfinished business on health care reform legislation.

The House of Representatives released its updated version of the health care reform bill. H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, is the merged versions of the health care bills passed out of the House Energy & Commerce, Ways & Means, and the Education & Labor Committees. HR 3962 would cover 96 percent of Americans, reduces the deficit and provides coverage for an additional 37 million Americans. It closes the drug benefit doughnut hole for seniors and sets a floor for Medicaid at 150 percent of federal poverty - about $33,075 for a family of four.

President Barack Obama’s address to Congress last week helped to move the Congress closer to passing comprehensive health insurance reform. In his speech, the President stated his case to Congress: health insurance reform must pass this year. He stressed that repeating history by doing nothing is not an option and laid out specific benchmarks for reform. He reminded Congress that effective health reform is essential to restoring the country’s long-term fiscal health and securing a stronger future for our children.

Congress returns to work on September 8th and the top priority will be passing heath care reform. Without Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Congressional Democrats will need to figure out how to keep the debate on health care reform bipartisan which they view as key to passing reform. Over the August Congressional Recess period, many Congressional members hosted contentious town hall meetings with constituents on this very issue.

Both the House of Representatives and the Senate forged ahead on health care reform; however, neither the House nor the Senate were able to pass their respective versions of health care reform before adjourning for the August Congressional recess period which begins on August 3rd. Unfortunately, this delay means that Congress will miss the deadline set by the President earlier this year to enact health care reform.